Source: Eagles’ Derek Barnett gauging trade market for more playing time elsewhere

Eagles defensive end Derek Barnett is gauging the trade market to see if there’s an opportunity to earn more playing time with another team, a league source confirmed Monday afternoon to The Inquirer.

Barnett, who is represented by agent Drew Rosenhaus, recently restructured his contract with the Eagles. The 2017 first-round pick is due a $3.5 million guaranteed salary in 2023, down $4 million from the $7.5 million he was originally owed before his contract with the Eagles was restructured.

Barnett, 27, suffered a torn ACL in Week 1 against the Detroit Lions last September and missed the remainder of the 2022 season. He’s been an active participant in training camp this summer. Barnett is part of a deep edge-rush group that features veterans Haason Reddick, Josh Sweat, and Brandon Graham along with rookie Nolan Smith atop the depth chart, in addition to linebackers Patrick Johnson and Kyron Johnson.

» READ MORE: Sielski: Howie Roseman is the smartest man in Philadelphia sports. The trick is making his genius last.

Barnett has logged 21½ sacks over six years. He famously recovered Graham’s forced fumble to seal the Eagles’ victory over Tom Brady and the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LII.

Throughout his tenure with the Eagles, Barnett has built a reputation as an aggressive player — and at times, to a fault. Just this month, he has been flagged several times in training-camp practices for activity occurring after the whistle.

“I love [Barnett’s] competitiveness,” Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said earlier this month while discussing one of Barnett’s personal foul penalties. “I love how tough he is and everything like that. But in a scenario like that, you can’t react. Any time you get a personal foul, you always want to talk about, ‘Hey, we can’t do that because we have to fight them within the next play legally, right?’

» READ MORE: ‘A different world,’ James Bradberry transitions into new slot cornerback role for Eagles

“ ... It’s a good teaching lesson for everybody. There will be things that a guy on another team does that’s out of my control that I’m not going to like. You have to be able to play tough, violent, strong, nasty, aggressive, all those different adjectives, and have to do all those things while doing it legally.”

NFL teams have until 4 p.m. Tuesday to cut their rosters to 53 players. As of Monday afternoon, the Eagles still had around 70 players on the active roster. The team waived defensive tackle Noah Elliss with an injury settlement.